Hurricane Helene, a category four hurricane, crashed first in Florida, causing destruction. Helene began forming in the Gulf of Mexico, but traveled as far north as West Virginia and North Carolina. This hurricane unexpectedly wiped out many districts, causing immense flooding and high winds far inland.
Tallahassee was left in shambles after the mass destruction of Helene. Houses were blown away or slammed with the intense winds or water. Helene began forming in the Gulf of Mexico, heading to Florida hitting Jacksonville and Tallahassee. This category four hurricane reached up to 60 mph winds tearing through houses and causing damage to the roads, trees, and power lines.
Multiple states have been hit with the impact from Helene leaving many with outages, flooding and destruction. According to CNN, power outages are affecting 1.5 million people (about the population of West Virginia) throughout the affected states.
- South Carolina: 612,000+
- Georgia: 468,000+
- North Carolina: 292,000+
- Virginia: 75,000+
- Florida: 67,000+
- West Virginia: 17,000+
(CNN; power outages as of 10/1/24)
Many states in the East and South were affected. Maryland was getting mass amounts of rain constantly and is still damp and cloudy as of Friday, October 4th, 2024. The weather in Maryland is predicted to clear up over the next few days. States in the South such as the Carolinas have flooded with river water with levels rising dramatically. The Weather Channel shares that over 40 trillion tons of rain and water have hit the southern states, excluding the eastern states.
Southern states are work to get their power back, but many people still must take boats and kayaks to save people who may be hurt or trapped in the wreckage. “20 trillion gallons of that [were] hitting just Georgia, Tennessee, the Carolinas” says The Weather Channel. Over 200 people have lost their lives to this brutal hurricane and many more were injured. Workers are still looking for those who are lost within the wreckage.
Helene is now reported to be the worst hurricane since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.